The Biggest Trends in Web Development We’ve Seen this Year

The web is continually changing. Thus web development techniques have also been constantly changing. With every New Year, newer and more improved tools for web development come out, giving developers more opportunity to play with design and page interactions. Each time a new design comes out, new patterns bloom, fresh techniques blossom, and a possibility for a trend to begin appears. And each year, new trends come and go. The year of 2017 is no different from other years. This year, we’ve seen significant trends in web development. Though some of them are no longer new in the scene, they still brought impact to the industry. If you’re still not aware what they are, here are some of the biggest trends in web development we’ve seen this year.

Color Choice

Your color choice can significantly impact your audiences; it can affect their thoughts, emotions, and ultimately, their conversion rate. So, the color choice for most websites this 2017 is green. Most people see green as a symbol of new beginnings, a refreshing start, a revitalizing first.

Green is not the only color that made the scene this year, because of the popularity of Google Material Design, the following colors also made headlines:

Shades of Red

Shades of Violet

Shades of Blue

Shades of Orange

Shades of Yellow

Shades of Grey

Shades of Brown

Duotone or an image made of two colors also made the cut. It has been used since 2016, but it rose to popularity this year. You may have noticed that examples of sites that used duotone are Spotify and YouTube.

Whatever color or color scheme you may choose to go with, make sure it goes well with your overall aim. Pick something that will convey what you want to say; if you’re going to say “be happy”, choose a color that carries happiness, or if you’re going to say “enjoy life”, pick a color that shows enjoyment of life. Again, your choice can impact your audiences, so choose well.

Retro Inspired and Modular Design

Who would’ve thought that pixel art, images from the late 80’s-early 90’s, and vintage typography would make a big comeback this year? Over the years, people have utilized the retro-inspired designs, but this year, it has made much more influence on web design. Even modular design also made a comeback this year. It isn’t something new, but it has gained so much popularity over the years, that it finally reached its peak in 2017.

There are a couple of websites that followed the trend of retro-inspired and modular designs; some have mixed retro style with modern style. There are also websites like Sweet Magnolia Gelato that went for the vintage look and combined it with animations. Build in Amsterdam has incorporated a very tasteful modular design in their website. Some websites have also used both themes, retro-inspired and modular design, integrating vintage looks with modular layouts.

Whether you go retro-inspired, modular or industrial design, just make sure that it can connect with your audience. No matter how great looking your design is, if your audience doesn’t understand the message you’re trying to convey, it won’t work. So, ultimately, pick a design that works for you and your audience.

Interactive And User Experience Focused

A user experience focused and interactive design has always been part of what most web developers aim their website to have. This year, website interactivity and user experience were brought to another level, as microinteractions can now be found in most sites. Microinteractions are those small moments where your audience can interact with your site. These are the times when your audiences can click a call to action button, like and share your content, send you a message or fill a form field.

Yes, microinteractions have been there for a time, but this year, you can see significant improvements on them. More and more of them have become more animated and eye-catching. They have become more focused on the user-experience during the interaction. An excellent example of a user experience centered microinteraction is the Customized Like by Facebook, where audiences can choose different emojis.

Do remember that the aim of this trend is one thing and one thing only: to communicate with your audience. You shouldn’t just put random animations all over the place; you shouldn’t put it there just because it looks cool or trendy. When adding animations to your design or customizing it, no matter how small the changes would be, it should communicate with your audience.

These are the biggest trends in web development we have seen this year. Hopefully, we’ve helped you become aware of what’s in this year. Now, you can start preparing for what’s coming next year. Just remember that whatever the trends are, your duty as a web developer is to make sure that you’re improving the experience of your every customer. We hope you liked this No BS article.